Content warning: some of the books listed contain content that may be triggering.Â
As the air gets colder and the days remain shorter, there’s no better way to spend my day than curling up with a good book to embrace the coziness of winter. As the new year begins, I also tend to set up and begin working toward my Goodreads reading goal.
From literary classics to horror-drama to dragon fantasy-romance, here are my top five favourite recent reads that are perfect for your 2025 reading list:
- The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
-
My most recent read is actually the oldest work on this list. I finally read Sylvia Plath’s semi-autobiographical American classic, The Bell Jar, and I’m shocked I hadn’t picked this one up sooner! It’s right up my alley: a literary work ahead of its time chronicling a woman’s mental breakdown and the subsequent results of it.Â
This book was so fascinating that I finished it in two days — a rare feat for me during the end of the semester. I was drawn in by Plath’s words and her way of narrating the world. It’s very obvious this is the work of a talented poet.Â
I don’t think I’ve ever highlighted as many passages in a single book as I have this one. Here are a few of my favourites that sum up the book pretty well:Â
“I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn’t make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet.”
“The silence depressed me. It wasn’t the silence of silence. It was my own silence.”
“All the heat and fear had purged itself. I felt surprisingly at peace. The bell jar hung, suspended, a few feet above my head. I was open to the circulating air.”
- Perfume and Pain by Anna Dorn
-
The first thing that drew me to this book was its cover, followed by the blurb. As evidenced by this list, I’ve really been into stories with complex and unlikeable female main characters, most of the time dealing with varying degrees of addiction and mental illness.Â
Perfume and Pain is a hilarious contemporary novel about a melodramatic lesbian writer navigating her career, the LA lesbian dating scene, and perfume samples. This book has great commentary on pop culture, queer relationships, and identities from the perspective of a witty author attempting to recover from cancel culture.Â
One Goodreads user called it “a story actually written for queer folks, instead of masquerading as a queer/lesbian story which is in reality written to be ‘palatable’ for straight people,” and I completely agree.
I think this is a wonderfully written book that anyone can enjoy. However, it’s unapologetically sapphic rather than glorified to be more digestible to straight audiences.
- Boy Parts by Eliza Clark
-
Boy Parts had been on my to-be-read (TBR) list for quite some time. When I finally got around to reading it, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I had to put this book down a few times while reading so I could process the developing storyline and return to it later — even though the ebook is pretty digestible at 307 pages.Â
Without giving too much away, the content can be pretty explicit with very graphic descriptions. It’s a shocking work of fiction told by an unreliable antiheroine narrator of the female manipulator genre, filled with gore and shocking revelations that will have you wondering if what you just read actually happened.Â
The first half of the book did stretch out a bit long at times for me, but the second half was so captivating it was hard to stop reading. My favourite quote from the novel sums it up perfectly:Â
“Do I have to smash a glass over the head of every single man I come into contact with, just so I leave a f*cking mark?”
- A Short History of Queer Women by Kirsty Loehr
-
The only non-fiction book on this list covers a vast history of queer women who are often erased in the history we’re familiar with, or their queerness has been rewritten to ignore that part of their identity. I’ve been trying to expand my library this year to include more non-fiction and diverse genres rather than solely my guilty-pleasure cheesy rom-coms.Â
One thing I love about A Short History of Queer Women is the author’s writing style. Although I was learning a lot about history, the book was written in such a way that it was so funny and entertaining that I almost forgot what I was reading was real historical content.Â
It also encouraged me to do some of my own further research on the women and their stories mentioned and add some more titles referred to in the book to my TBR list.
- Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
-
I know, I know, I’m late to the game with this one. The 517-page fantasy book sat on my TBR list for so long and received rave reviews from many of my friends, but it took me a while to start this one. I think I was intimidated by the length and genre — I haven’t read a fantasy series since high school.
I absolutely understand the hype around this series now. It’s been a long time since a fantasy book has captivated my attention and sucked me in the way this one did.Â
While this book has many similarities to other popular dystopian/fantasy series such as Red Queen and Divergent, it draws on the elements I like most and creates a new but familiar narrative.Â
One thing that sets this book apart from its comparisons is the main character, Violet, and her relationships with her friends. Usually, in these genres, the female lead is a loner with only a couple of close friends and has trouble connecting with others. It was refreshing that right off the bat, Violet was compassionate towards her peers. She was easily open to making friends without the typical anti-alliance/anti-social demeanour.
While she does follow the trope of the fragile underdog who ends up being stronger than everyone, I’ll devour this narrative every time.Â
These five books perfectly combine suspense, romance, and introspection to suit the season. Whether you’re in the mood for a gripping page-turner or an ode to queer historical figures, these reads are such to leave a lasting impression. So grab a hot drink, find a cozy spot, and dive into one of these books this season. Happy reading!